May ends on a quiet note

Cloudy day, 14°, breezy N.

A fairly quiet day and a little cooler.

Good news with 2 well grown young Lapwing noted. Second year running that Lapwing has bred locally and hopefully a few more young to be noted.

The River, Bunk and Lollingdon all pretty static at the moment and very few insects on the wing today.

2 Little Egret noted by Alan and c30 House Martin feeding over CSW.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Brown Hare

Teneral Black-tailed Skimmer courtesy Alan. earlier in week

Large Skipper (yesterday) courtesy Alan

White-legged Damselfly (yesterday) courtesy Alan

A damp one

Rain early then sunny spells, 16°, breezy SW,

An afternoon start for both today to avoid the morning rain.

Both the Bunk line and Marsh/River covered.

A lot of House Martin noted today with around 100 birds plus a good number of Swift and Swallow and a Hobby seen by Alan along the Bunk.

A few Gulls still around with 7 Lesser Blackback moving north and 4 Black-headed still hanging around.

No change as far as the rest goes.

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly. Red-eyed Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Small White, Common Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

Large Skipper courtesy Alan

Red-eyed Damselfly courtesy Alan

Another sunshiny day

Another sunshiny day, 24°, light E.

Lollingdon hill relatively quiet today albeit a light passage of Swift and House Martin.

A mixed flock of c50 Swift and House Martin drifted over heading north at around 10:30 and then a thin trickle of Swift and a few House Martin over the next hour numbering around another 100 birds.

All the usual suspects present.

A pair of House Sparrow nesting in bushes and away from any buildings on the route out to Lollingdon. A little unusual?

Farmers are cutting fields for hay at the moment and I wonder how many Skylark and Corn Bunting nests get destroyed along with anything else living there?

Are Swallows and House Martins having a hard time of it at the moment as there is very little mud around for them to collect for their nest building process?

Dragonflies: a female Emperor hunting on Lollingdon Hill and a male Emperor hunting over a bean field just south of the railway.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Speckled Wood.

Moths: A couple of Cinnabar Moths.

Large Skipper

A female Emperor dragonfly hunting on the hill this morning. Could not get a photo with the long lens as flight too erratic. Tried phone camera and did not capture her either but to my surprise caught her shadow!

Meadow Grasshopper (courtesy Alan Dawson)

Just liked the pattern of the bark on this Downy Birch.

A short walk

Cloudy with some sunshine, 21°, light SSE.

A walk out with Loren to the Lees and back today. Not a lot to see except for a couple of pairs of Yellow Wagtail with possibly more past the Lees but did not go out there as a tractor was spraying the fields. With what we don’t know!

We usually get approx. 5-6 pairs of Yellow Wagtail breeding in Cholsey but last year we had just one possibly 2 pairs. So hoping this year they do better.

(Western) Yellow Wagtails are summer visitors to the UK and winter in Sub-Saharan Africa. They often feed alongside livestock and take insects kicked up by Sheep or Cattle etc. Maybe the ones we saw today were feeding alongside Zebra and Wildebeest a few months ago?

The ubiquitous Common Whitethroat seen in fair numbers plus Skylarks and the odd Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Yellowhammer.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Small White, Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Small Heath.

Alan also out today.

Butterflies: Alan found a Large Skipper butterfly today. The 20th species so far. Also Marsh Fritillary. Green Hairstreak and Small Blue.

Dragonflies: Common Clubtail and Broad-bodied Chaser.

Birds: Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Yellow Wagtail.

A photo I took last year of this Yellow Wagtail picking flies off the Cows face.

 Yellow Wagtails from today ↕

Small Heath

 Small Blue (courtesy Alan Dawson) a rather tatty one!

Large Skipper (courtesy Alan Dawson)

The Lees and beyond

Sunny spells, 19°, light W.

A walk out to the Lees and beyond today and a little warmer than of late.

The “long ditch” out beyond the Lees was dredged over the winter and subsequently all the growth in and around the ditch was either disrupted or destroyed.

There are no birds breeding along the ditch this year and it seems the Reed Buntings that bred along the ditch have moved out into the crop fields (5 singing males). A lot of the Bullrush, Reed and other plants that were in the ditch have been destroyed but some of the plants on the bank have survived. Any larvae or other life that was in the ditch has also been partially destroyed.

However nature has a way of coming back!

Several Dragonfly species seen along the ditch and a few small fish present (probably Stickleback) and a few Orchid species along the bank.

The “Reedy ditch” at the far end had 5 singing Sedge Warbler and 3 singing Reed Warbler (plus others present) present along with several Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer.

A family group of Swallow spent time feeding over the area (2 adults & 5 young) and a few Swift overhead and a distant Grey Heron.

From Alan: 2 Common Tern again on the river and Lesser Whitethroat. 

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Large Red Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, 4-spot Chaser and Emperor Dragonfly. Per Alan: Brown Hawker and White-legged Damselfly.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Large White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown. Per Alan: Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Marbled White, Small Copper and Large Skipper.

Moths: Cinnabar Moth and Scarlet Tiger. Per Alan: Burnet Companion.

Insects: Black and Yellow Long Horn Beetle. Per Alan.

Orchids: Pyramid Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid and Poss Marsh Orchid hybrid.

Reed Warbler

Emperor Dragonfly

Burnet Companion

 Common Spotted Orchid

 Scarlet Tiger

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Large Skipper

 4-spot Chaser

 Azure Damselfly

More rain!

Overcast then rain, 17°, light SW.

Pretty quiet out today. A quick check on the Spotted Flycatchers before making my way out to Lollingdon.

A few Swift feeding around the hill and 3 Mistle Thrush present.

Chiffchaff, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting still singing well, other species not so frequent.

Little Owl and Grey Heron nearby and another Grey Heron in the meadow this afternoon.

Mammals: Stoat carrying small prey.

Butterflies: a few each of Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. Yesterday Marbled White, Large Skipper and Small Skipper (per Alan Dawson and Tony Rayner).

Moths: Cinnabar Moth, and a Garden Tiger recently (per Ed Munday).

Marbled White (Alan Dawson)

Scarlet Tiger (Ed Munday)

Grey Heron